Trombone-slide.



Patented May 20, 1913.

m. Q. a@

A. W. HARTHILL & I. E. STAMETS.

' TROMBONE SLIDE.

APrLIoATIoN FILED P11119, 1912.

l To all inkom t may concern:

' another lixed tube by way of two parallel l to its full extent.

)such as lwill enable others skilled in the art 'consisting of two tubes connected at their v scoping' with the inner tubes.

inner tubes and the outer tubes apart, and

UNITED srnrns PATENT oFnoE-.f

ALFnnnw. HARTHILL AND IRA n. s'rAMn'rs, or rznxzentiru` INDIANA.y

TROMBONE-SLIDE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Appnatin led'rebruary 19, 1912. serial No. 678,455.

Be it known that we, ALnEniW. HART- HrLL and IRA E. SATAMETs, citizens of the United States,oresiding at Elkhart, in the county of Elkhart' and State ofjLfIndiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 'in Trombone-Slides; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and' exact description of the invention,

to which it apperta-ins to make and use the( same.

-Our invention relates to slidetrombones, z'. e., wind musical instruments of the trumpet class in which a fixed tube carrymg a'mouthpiece is connected with the bell or discharge portion of the instrument through sliding tubes connected with each other and telescoping with the fixed tubes. The slid-A` ing tubes or slide, asthey are commonly called, have considerable range of movement and it is important that they should move in order to facilitate in the skilful 4handling of the instrument. It is also desirable thatv the accidental separation of the "slide from the fixed tubes when the slidejs fully drawn out should be prevented and some means should be provided for locking the slide to the fixed .tubes when the instrument is closed, z'. e., when the slide is moved inward According to our.r invention we construct the instrument for the most partin the usual way, i. e., we employ fixed tubes connected with the mouthpiece and the bell and which we call the inner tubes andwe use a slide outer ends as usual and fitting over or tele- The outer ends of the inner tubes as usual are providedl with bushings or stockings which serve to hold the outer portions of the we provide the innjer ends of the outer tubes with anti-friction devices whichY serve to hold the inner ends of these tubes away from the inner tubes and enable the several tubes to slide leasilyand freely relatively to each other. The inner tubes are providedwith, cushions which yieldingly receive the end thrust of the slide ywhen the latter is moved inward to its full extent and lockin devices I figures. are on'- an enlarged scale.

oijmproved construction are emp eyed to secure the slide tothe instrument is closed.

Patented May 2o, i913. 'i

inner tubes when the `In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows -a side elevation ofl a `trombone embodyingour improvements. The remaining a view partly -i'n elevation and partly in longitudinal section showing the connections between oneX of the inner and one of the outer tubes of the instrument. Fig. 3 is a; detail view inI section showing thev devices for locking lthe slide to the inner `tubes. l Fig. 4; is a detail view in longitudinal section showing one of the anti-friction devices interposed between the inner andouter tubes. Fig. 5 shows a transverse sect-ion thereof on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2.' Fig. 6 is a detail view in longitudinal .section showing` the manner in which the inner and outer tubes .are locked when the slide-is closed.

The fixed tubes 1 and lEL vare connected with the mouthpiece A and the bell B in the usual way. Each of the fixed tubes carries a sleeve '12 and these are..connected by a brace C. The, outer end of each sleeve 12 is, enlarged and formed with a chamber 13 in which'is located a cushion 14 of cork or other suitable material an whichv receives the end thrust o the corres onding member of the slide in t e manner hereinafter described. The fixed or inner tubes l and 1a are extended outward froml the sleeves 12 and enter the two tubular membersof the slide S. At their outer ends the inner tubes carry bushings or stockings a, preferably made of German'silver, which serve to hold the fixed tubes away from the tubes ofthe slidein the manner shown in Fig. 2. By'

employing German y silver. stockings worklng in brass tubes friction is largely reducedl andeby ,employing stockingsY of small length a corresponding reduction in friction'is obtained. Each of the inner tubes is provided with a stocking a for the purpose above mentioned. 'This device is commonly employed in trombones and no claim is made byus to the use of such a device per se.

The inner or rear endsiof the two mem-L bers of the slide carryrimproved means for holding them away from the inner tubes and in connection with the stockings above mentioned .provide a space between the inner and outer tubes for the greater part ofvv their lengths when the slide 1s drawn outward. These devices ontheoutertubes each comprises a ball carrier or cage provided'with anti-friction balls which bear .on the 1nclosed linner/tube and'are pressed into engagementtherewith by a spring arranged in the cage. As shown in thel drawings the cage consists of a cylinder 8 formed with radial pockets 9 for the balls 10 and with an annular groove for the split ring 11 made of lspring metal. .The pockets 9 arerpreferably tapered inwardly, as shown, and the balls extend fora short distance inward out of the .pockets when moved inward -by the spring to their full Lextent. The cage or cylinder 8 on its periphery is screw-thread-l scribed. Each of the outer tubes is provided with the anti-friction devices described. It will be observed that the bore of the cage 8 is slightly less than that of the outer tube providing a shoulder 8b which is adapted to strike the inner end.of ythe stocking a. In

this way the separation or disconnection of the outer and inner tube is prevented. When thus arranged the slide can be moved back and yforth with great ease and freedom and with a minimum amount of friction.`

When theslide is moved inward to its full extent the extensions 8a enter the recesses 13 land strike the cushions 14 relieving the shock; The split ring 11 yieldingly .holds the balls 10 and allows them to ride easilyv over any brokemor rough places that there may be on 'the inner tube.

In order to lock the slide t 'the xed.

member of the instrumentv we may employ the locking devices shown particularly in Figs. 3 and 6. Each. inner tubefmay be provided with such devices, but only one is essential. e have shown them "applied to the upper` tube 1. The locking device comprises a sliding bolt 18 which enters the chamber 13 and thel upper or outer portion of which is contained within a houslng 15.

rIhe housing is open at its inner end, its,

neck portion being threaded and lconnected with the wall of the chamber 13 in the 'man-` ner shown.` At its outer end 4the housing is `closed by a screw cap 16 lhaving a central opening through which the bolt 18 extends and formed with holes 17 on opposite sides of the central opening. The bolt is provided with a head 1-9 yby which 'itinay be manipulated and itis surrounded by' a spring 21 which bears against the cap and against acollar .22 att-ached to the bolt.

The spring tends to move cthe bolt inward but the bolt may be moved radially outward against the force of the sping. The" head 19 carries an inwardly projecting pin 20` adapted 4to enter either of the holes 17. When the' pin extends through onegof the -holes the bolt occupies the position shown in Figs. 3 and'r6` in which.position it is adapted to engage the recess of the extension 8& of lthe ball carrier. By raising or pulling outward the head 19 the bolt ma be withdrawnf-rom engagement with the ref .cess 7 'and by turning the bolt ashort 'dise tance about its .axis the pin 20 may be moved out of line with the recess and may tlen engage the outer facee of the cap 19 and hold the bolt in its withdrawn position. By our invention wehave so improved a slide trombone that it may be made to work with bpt little friction, perfect alinement, is insured and thus the bending, iattening or distortion of any of the arts is prevented. The slide cannot' be acci entallyseparated from the ixedl members of the instrument and when the slide Ais moved inw/'fard' to its fulll extent it may be very easily locked and unlocked: If it be desired to separate the slide fromthe instrument, this can easily be done by taking hold .of the milled flange 6 and unscrewing the ball carrier orcage from the threaded recess 3a. When bothy of the ,ball'carriers'are removed in this way, the slide will slip over the stockings and separate from the instrument. This may ybe done without 'dropping the balls from theI c'age, but the balls may be removed from the cageby simplyr springing open the split ring 11 and jremoving it.4

That 'end of `the instrument f lef? hand side of the drawings, Fig. 1, we

call the inner end and the opposite end we call the outer end.

yWe claim as our invention: v f `1. lA trombone having fixed tubes, a slide having tubes telescoping with the fixed tubes and provided at their inner ends with ball cages' carryingballs engaging the fixed tubes shown on the f andsprings which press the -balls inward against the tubes.

2; A trombone having fixed tubes. provided with stockingson their outer ends, a

slide having tubes telescoping with, the iixed tubes and provided at their inner ends with ball cageshaving shoulders adapted to engage the 'stockings and carrying ballsen gaging the fixed tubes. L

3. The combination with thev inner and/ outer tubes of a trombone, of a ball cage removably connected with the inner end of the outer tube and provided with radial pockets carrying balls engaging the inner tube, and Ja spring engaging thel balls an'd :pressing them inward. D

4. The combination with the inner and outer tubes f a trombone,v of a ball cage ably connected with the inner end of the outer tube, and a split spring ring arranged in the cage surrounding the balls and pressing them inward into engagement with the inner tube. Y.

45. The combination with the inner and outer tubes of a trombone, of a ball cage detachably connected with the inner end of the outer tube, carrying balls engaging the inner tube and formed with an inwardly projeoting extension, an enlargement on the inner tube formed with a chamber into which saidextension on the ball cage enters when the instrument is closed and a sliding bolt operating in said chamber and adapted to enga-ge with said extension on the ball cage. -6L The combination with the inner and outer tubes of ai trombone, of a ball carrying cage detachably connected with the outer tube and having an extension projecting rearwardly from it, an enlargement on the inner tube having a chamber which receives said extension, a radially moving bolt which enters said chamber and engages said eX- tension, a housing for the bolt', a cap having an opening for the bolt and a holesat the side thereof, a springwithin the housing and connected therewith and with the bolt which tends to move the bolt inward, a head for the bolt,. and a pin carried by said head adapted to support the bolt in its withdrawn position or ,to enter the hole in the end of the housing to permit the bolt to engage the extension of the ball cage.

I [n testimony whereoi:l we alix our signatures in presence of two witnesses,

ALFRED W. HARTHILL. IRA E. STAMETS. Witnesses:

GEORGE J. MANNING, BRADLEY MCFABRJJN. 

